Shabbos in Strasbourg

Shabbos was amazing. I was in Strasbourg, a small city and the capital of Alsace in Estern France, right along the border with Germany. I was hosted by the Kahns, whose eldest son is a fiance of a friend (Thanks Sarah!) The family is amazing, but let's keep things in order. When I first arrived in the city after an uneventful 3 hour train ride from Zurich, I dropped my bags off at the Kahn's apartment and took a walk. The weather was terrible (and remained so for days) but I saw the EU Parliament and Human Rights building, and the very nice Parc de l'Orangerie, which has beautifully landscaped flozer gardens, a lake with swans and a waterfall, and pigeons that are actually scared of humans! It was a bit sad to see such a bird that is so tough and macho in NYC so scared and helpless, but what can I say; this is France.
When I returned to the house I got to meet the family. Besides Andre, the eldest son, who amazing and spet hours showing me the city, they have three younger kids. The eldest girl, 9, spent all of shabbos trying to teach me some French and learn English. The second sister, age 7, was very shy, and the youngest boykept talking even though I had no idea what he was saying. The parents were extremely hospitable and friendly, and if all European Jews are like them I won't have any problems during this trip. She was really open and welcoming and his sense of humor was worse than Uncle Larry's. I loved it. (Family joke).
Besides all the normal shabbos things, Andre and I took a long walk in the city, a very old city (founded in 12 bce, though looking very young, postively Medieval), and it's main highlight, a magnificent Cathedral that rivals Notre Dame in Paris.